1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a damper device used in a storage cabinet such as a glove compartment furnished for the dashboard of an automobile.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A storage cabinet such as a glove compartment is, at times, required to be furnished with a damper device for controlling the opening and shutting motions of the storage cabinet for the purpose of preventing the storage cabinet from suddenly opening itself or emitting the unpleasant noise of an impact.
As damper devices fit for this purpose, air cylinder type damper devices disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Public Disclosures No. 63-196752 and No. 2-147350 have been proposed, for example.
These conventional damper devices, though not specifically illustrated herein, are constructed of a piston that has an O-ring provided on the circumferential edge thereof and is slidably disposed inside a cylinder body. A compression coil spring serves to urge the piston in one fixed direction. A long piston rod integrally extends from the piston and protrudes outwardly from the cylinder body. A string member has one terminal part thereof connected to the leading terminal part of the piston rod and the other terminal end of a string member fastened either to the peripheral member of the storage cabinet, when the cylinder body is fixed to the storage cabinet, or to the storage cabinet when the cylinder body is fixed to the peripheral member of the storage cabinet.
The conventional damper devices therefore require not only a guide means such as a roller for guiding the string member in the direction of disposition of the string member, but also such fixing parts as bolts and nuts for fixing the guide means at pertinent fixed positions. The natural consequence is that the number of component parts is proportionately increased, and the damper devices suffer from additional size and increased of cost. Further, during the assembly of an automobile, or the assembly of the damper device, therefore, the number of steps of work involved is augmented, and the operational efficiency of the assembly is jeopardized, possibly to the extent of posing a problem.
To make matters worse, in the conventional damper devices, an appreciable space must be secured between the long piston rod and the guide means so that the leading terminal part of the piston rod and the guide means avoid interfering with each other. The extra space thus required entails the problem of proportionately enlarging the device and consequently imposing a limit on the overall dimensions of the storage cabinet and diminishing the cabinet's capacity for storage.
One object of this invention is to provide an air cylinder type damper device which allows a perfect solution of the problems suffered by the conventional damper devices as described above.